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Soft skin brushed against my palm as I explored under Poppy's floral pullover until the tips of my finger felt the lace edges of her bra. A pair of gray eyes peered down at me, begging me to go further. I bit my lip in response.

Poppy pressed herself against the bathroom mirror in anticipation as I dipped my hand beneath that final layer. I could feel her heart slam in her chest the higher my hand climbed. 

Her perfect lips disappeared into a line, and her eyes wound shut as she focused on my touch. With every twitch of her body, I knew she wanted me to give attention to her nipples, but I wouldn't give her what she wanted. Not yet.

Sensing this, Poppy huffed in exasperation. 

"Abbi, you bitch," she whined as her long legs wrapped around my waist, pinning me against her and the sink.

Yellow fabric from my sweater bunched in her fists when she grabbed my collar. She tugged me towards her until our lips crashed against each other in a heated flurry of passion and building desperation. The taste of the sour warhead that she had been sucking on earlier slithered into my mouth.

I pulled away and murmured, "You and your sour candies."

"Told you I'd get you to eat one," she teased, making me recall the conversation we had earlier that morning.

"I hardly think this counts."

"Then," she purred, mischief swimming in her eyes, "¿Qué tal si te hago comer otra cosa?" How about I make you eat something else? 

"Oh?" I quipped, excitement burning in my core at her suggestion. "¿Y qué es lo que te gustaría que comiera?" And what is it that you would like me to eat?

A playful smile tugged on the edges of her lips. She opened her mouth, ready to tell me what she wanted me to do when I heard a subdued click then the door creak open. Soon after the vibration of heavy footsteps tumbled into the room, and I felt myself become paralyzed with dread.

To top it all off, I was still holding a tit.

Thinking fast, Poppy leaned forward, crushing me into a tight hug that pinned my arm between our bodies at an uncomfortable angle. She buried her face into my shoulder, and let out a loud and somewhat over-exaggerated sob. 

"I can't believe he dumped me!" she wailed while hunched over me, giving me a clear view of the mirror behind her to see a stout man with thin silver hair entering the restroom on the heels of a gangly custodian named Jeff. 

I tensed when I realized that the large frame belonged to Assistant Principal Bater, the guy who would be Salesperson of the Year if detentions were a product he was selling. 

Yup, we were screwed. 

"What is going on in here?" he barked, surveying the room as the custodian made a hasty retreat with his comically large keyring.

Somehow managing to free my hand, I turned to face him and apologized, "Sorry, Assistant Principal Bater, my friend wasn't feeling well."

"Get off the sink, Poppy, and both of you out. Now," commanded the Assistant Principal while he held open the door.

He gestured with his hands for the two of us to leave, and wasting no time, we complied, scurrying out into the teal hallway with Bater bringing up the rear. For a brief moment, when I saw the numerous students at their lockers getting ready, I debated blending into the crowd with Poppy and leaving school for the day. 

Then I remembered that Bater knew who we were. So, unless we had planned on skipping town and finding a new school, we were screwed still. 

"It's the morning of the first day of the new semester and you two are already causing problems," Bater chided. His steady gaze glowered at us in disbelief. "Does one of you want to tell me what you were thinking when you decided to lock yourselves up in the men's restroom?"

"Well, Assistant Principal Bater, Poppy and I wanted some alone time, if you catch my drift, and both of the women's bathrooms were busy and this one over here is too afraid of heights to go up on the catwalk, so here we are." 

Of course, I didn't say any of that and opted to keep quiet.

"My boyfriend broke up with me and Abbi was just trying to cheer me up," sniffled Poppy, continuing her one-woman show of the recently dumped woman.

"In the men's restroom?" puzzled Bater, dumbfounded. 

"Yeah," I cut in, "It-"

"Yes, sir," he interrupted to correct me. 

"Yes, sir," I ground out as politely as I could, hoping he didn't sense my irritation, "It was private." 

There was a slight pause.

"Well, girls," he concluded as he tugged a notepad and a pen from his suit jacket pocket. "This stunt will cost you a Saturday with me."

I kept my face neutral, refusing to give him the satisfaction of knowing that his punishment sucked, but inside I was bitter at the fact that I had to spend a Saturday with him. 

"The bell will be ringing in a few minutes," he noted, clicking his ballpoint pen then imparted a pink sheet of paper to each of us, "And I expect both of you to be on time to first period."

"Yes, sir," we both bellowed while shuffling away from Bater, detention slips in hand.

Once we were out of earshot, I moaned, "Shit that took years off my life."

Not that I was new to getting in trouble, but I wasn't aiming to be expelled from school. And if he had any inkling of what we were actually doing, we would've been.

"You're telling me," agreed Poppy who then grumbled, "Ugh, can't believe Master Bater caught us! Also, why didn't you let go of my tit? Do you have a death wish?"

Frustration burned her cheeks, coloring it a deep red that seemed to only make her golden-brown skin glow even more. I chuckled, finding my insanely pretty friend even more adorable when she was like this. 

"Hey, are you ignoring me?" she huffed, stopping me at the door to AP Chemistry. 

"Impossible," I replied, slipping inside the room. "I was just thinking about how cute you are."

I beelined straight to the back of the classroom where our bags were still on the tables near the tall window that overlooked the distant Colorado mountains. Often times when I look at them I wonder what it'd be like to see them up close. Or even what it'd be like to leave our small town of Pascona. 

Maybe someday. 

"Okay, fine, I am cute," Poppy pipped up when we reached our seats. "But you're grounded from touching my boobs for a week."

"Wow, I'll just make do with my own then."

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A/N: I absolutely gutted this chapter. Honestly, I did not go in with that intention, but after re-reading what chapter 1 was, I decided that I needed to freshen it up to match the tone of the rest of the book. 

Other chapters may end up with this same treatment...who knows? If it takes forever to post the next chapter, well, that's why.